Customer Reviews

Visikey Large Print Keyboard for PC & Mac

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This keyboard is pretty good once you get the latest drivers. I installed the Mac drivers from the CD and nothing seemed to work. Once I downloaded the latest driver from the visikey web site everything worked fine. It would have been nice if somewhere on the install CD it told you what operating system the driver actually supported.

I bought this keyboard for a friend with extreme vision limitations. It is just perfect for him and he was so very grateful to receive it. The letters are very large and the contrast of white letters against black background is just what he needs to be able to see it well.

You who reviewed this keyboard upon first purchasing it, without using it over time, spoke too soon. I first saw this keyboard in the Scottsdale Senior Center computer lab, so I called the number on the back and ordered myself one. SSC has since replaced all Visakeys with another keyboard, because the letters chip off immediately. I ordered directly for Visakey.

Here is the history of my 4 Visakey keyboards over a period of a year:

1. Keyboard #1 The first one Visakey sent me was defective out of the box, the right arrow key didn't work. Also the letters were chipping off the next day. Because Krystal, the customer service clerk was so slow (she said she was inundated because Jonah, the technician left) in responding (months slow!), by the time she sent me keyboard #2, about 1/3 of the letters were almost entirely gone. Visikey company troubleshooting page on website tell you that you used caustic cleaners, and that is why the letters are fading. I never used any cleaner, and the letters faded and chipped the next day. They are chipping because of inferior paint. In a few weeks, about 1/3 of the letters were almost entirely gone. Besides that the right arrow key NEVER worked.

2. Keyboard #2 - . Besides the letters rapidly chipping off, after typing about 6 weeks, the right shift key broke, it got stuck down, causing me to type in upper case, unaware.

3. Keyboard #3 - The third one was the worst, it had a very hard touch and also the space bar couldn't not keep up with my fast typing, it didn't work unless you paused a long time after each word and hit it HARD. It caused all my words to run together, cos the space bar didn't work. I could not use that one at all. I went back to using the first one with hardly any letters, and the broken right arrow key. I bought letters from craft store and nail polished them on. Isn't that pathetic, that I have to do that?

4. Keyboard #4 - Krystal told me that the paint was changed and I saw that it had a different sheen to it, when held at an angle under light. I was quite happy with the touch and feel of this keyboard (they are all different, no quality control). The letters lasted for several weeks. I have had this keyboard about 4 months and about 6 of the letters are almost all chipped away, only remnants left. But I tell you, that is MUCH longer than the other keyboards. Well, after 4 months, all hell broke lose on my 4th keyboard that lasted me the longest. When I type on the keys, all sorts of random and bizarre things occur on my screen, like typing a letter opens the toolbar, instead of the letter you typed. My techno-weenie roommate, who used to work for a large computer company in China, tried the keyboard on his laptop. It did the same to his laptop and the disease STAYS in the computer after you remove the keyboard. He said that he had to erase his harddrive to get rid of the disease. But, on my own laptop, I found that it went away, after shutting down the computer and removing battery and power source.

However I am having trouble with my Juno software, even after removing the program from HD and reinstalling it. It has some bug in it and I am wondering if that last Visakey gave a disease to my Juno program, that still stays in my HD to infect over and over again. I lost so much e-mail because of it. Even my restorations are infected.

I complained and complained to Visakey company and said that they did not insist their Chinese manfacturers make them better and get on top of them for the inferior keyboards that have something broken on them as soon as you take it out of the box.

The head of the Scottsdale Senior Center told me he bought one for his own personal use, and it had all the same problems that I describe above. So Scottsdale Senior Center bought another brand of keyboard, with a large print keyboard membrane. Their reason was "too many problems, especially missing letters" on Visakey.

I labeled each keyboard I sent back, with the above issues. Krystal said my keyboards were sent to be evaluated, and someone was going to China in Jan to talk to company who makes them. My roommate told me that it is not the chinese manufacturer, but Visakey company who does not insist on quality control, and Visakey is still selling these lousy keyboards that have so many inherent defects in them. Krystal told me Visakey does not get credit worth sending back to China, so maybe the manufacturer never finds out that their product is so bad, if you keep buying them.

Well, that new paint STILL doesn't hold up !

So I told Krystal I was giving up. She said I had to return all four keyboards , and all software, and manuals to get my refund for the original purchase, and she did send me a ppd UPS call tag. I saved all the boxes and discs and manuals, etc. YOu DID get the four keyboards back, cos I called UPS tracking. Krystal said they went to be inspected, and Visakey rep was going to China soon.

When I didn't get the check, Krystal said the office was on 2 week holiday vacation and that she would get it to me in the next few days (this was in Jan).
Now it is FEb. What happened to Krystal, did she get laid off? I even put Krystal's e-mail in my Juno address book, because of my history.

During my history with Visakey, there were months, yes months, that I called and called the 800# and also e-mailed, and there was no response.

I just want my money back. Then I was told that Krystal was no longer working there, and the VP wanted to charge me a restocking fee for each of the keyboards! I was outraged. I said a restocking fee is fair if I found another keyboard at Frys cheaper (e.g. free with rebate) , and wanted to return the Visakey one. But Visakey appears in bad faith, manufacturing defective keyboards, and then charging people a restocking fee to make more money, if people wanted to return them. I told him it was not fair that Visakey could not provide me with a keyboard that worked for the year's warranty, after trying four times over a year, and yet wanted to charge me a restocking fees, for each, on top of that! What an insult! So he wrote back and said forget the restocking fee. They did refund my full money back. This keyboard from hell was the worst merchandise I ever bought in my life !!!!

VP agreed to send my complaints (these words here) to their Chinese manufacturer.

I purchased this keyboard locally from a low vision store then downloaded the OS X 10.5 drivers from the vendor website. I then tested on a MacBook using 10.5.6.

1. The rubber dome keys are stiff but the space bar is loose. This is not a touch typist keyboard. It's hunt and peck.
2. There are drivers for OS X 10.5 and 10.4 and XP but not for Vista. There's no guarantee that there will be 10.6 drivers. Without drivers the standard keys work, but the special keys (power, volume, etc) won't work.
3. I installed the drivers in an admin account. The installer has a bug; it doesn't install the Visikey engine as a login item for other accounts. It has to be manually added as an account specific item for each account in order for the special keys to work.
4. If you change the default system shortcuts some special keys may not work without remapping. I tested on one kb and spotlight didn't work, but it worked on another kb.

Incidentally: Amazon has several distinct listings for this keyboard -- they've got some catalog confusion here.

Great little keyboard. My mother is 90 and has macular degeneration. She loves to email and struggled with her old keyboard. She can see this one much better and especially loves the hot keys for email and internet. Installation was easy. I'd highly recommend.

I had bought a Mac for mom, but she could in no way read those tiny keys, especially after they fade out from use. I tried other large-print keyboards, but they were not Mac-compatible. This one worked well after running the installation software. She loves it.

Also, she has bad arthritis in her hands, and she has had no problem with the tactile response of the keys. Oh, and it was no problem getting the shortcut keys to launch internet, email, etc. That's really nice for someone who has a hard time navigating the desktop.

So, yes, it's primarily built for Windows-PCs, but it works great for Mac users as well. One of the few that does.

I bought this for my father who has macular degeneration. He has an iMac and could no longer see the letters on the keyboard. Once he had started using the Visikey Large Print Keyboard he was happy in that he could now make out all the keys. The white letters on black keys make an excellent contrast.

I gave four stars instead of five because many of the extra functions are not compatible with the Mac. The basic keyboard works well and is highly legible.

I'm a graphic designer, and work long hours. Although my eyes are not bad, I prefer to work in low light in the evening, as do many computer professionals. If this is you, too, this keyboard will make your work a pleasure! No more leaning forward to look for a particular key in the evening, no more pausing to double-check that you're about the hit the correct key command! I first considered a backlit keyboard, but looked into it and found this one to be of higher quality, as well as more attractive. It's high contrast design really looks slick next to my black Bamboo pen tablet, and looks great with black monitors. The feel of the keys is very good. It's a soft touch but not squishy. It is a very cool product... You know you want one! ;-) I recommend it highly for anyone.

For anyone with low vision (I happen to have Macular Degeneration in both eyes) this keyboard is a God send.
The enlarged white letters and numbers against a black back ground helps to see the keys much clearer.

Most enlarged keyboards only work with PCs and since I own a Mac I am so glad it is compatible with my Mac OS X.

I recommend this product highly.

This is the second large-print keyboard I have purchased. I have bought two of this same keyboard, assuming that the problems faced with the first were a manufacturing error. However, I have had problems with both. Initial quality is good, but after a few months of use the print began to come off of the first keyboard and some keys began to stick, making them hard to depress. On this second keyboard, the ink is sticking better to the keys, but some of the larger keys (tab, shift, enter) are again beginning to exhibit the sticking that required a replacement of the first keyboard. The idea behind this is great for someone with limited vision, but the implementation leaves room for improvement.

The included software provides some useful features, but doesn't allow for an eject key, which is essential on a Mac keyboard. I've tried several workarounds, but none have worked, so I have been caused to leave a disc in the CD drive so that I can use the eject keyboard shortcut or menu option to change out discs.

Unfortunately, I haven't found a better option yet; so I may end up with another of this same keyboard in a month or two when this one gives out.